Should comic writers Unionize?

Should comic writers have a union?

  • Total voters
    24
Hibiki said:
Unions don't unionize for the sole purpose of striking and that's your argument.
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I know they don't pet , I just meant if unionised that becomes a factor. I know it's not their entire purpose.
 
Ice said:
That's not necessarily true because anyone can strike at any job, really. They don't have to be part of a union to do it.
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True , But if they are union everyone does it at once.
 
SSJmole said:
I know they don't pet , I just meant if unionised that becomes a factor. I know it's not their entire purpose.
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Only if both sides can't come to an agreement. It's something they really want to do but they find it necessary. I feel like a broken record. I say comic writers should unionize, again, for health benefit purposes because they get a raw deal. DO you really want to see your favorite artists and writers suffer? Do you? Do you?
 
SSJmole said:
True , But if they are union everyone does it at once.
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They can strike without a union, but few strikes are as effective without numbers.

Ergo, unions are merely organized striking. And that's a good thing.

Seriously.

Unions at strike are basically large groups of people striking at once with a certain degree of organization, restraint and governance. There's a good chance that without unions, more than a handful of strikes would become 'employment riots'.
 
ourchair said:
They can strike without a union, but few strikes are as effective without numbers.

Ergo, unions are merely organized striking. And that's a good thing.

Seriously.

Unions at strike are basically large groups of people striking at once with a certain degree of organization, restraint and governance. There's a good chance that without unions, more than a handful of strikes would become 'employment riots'.
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Good point there.
 
Ice said:
Well, from the looks of it, the pros seem to outweigh the cons.
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I completely disagree for the same reasons that I am against unions in the first place.

People have the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. If you want something and it's not illegal, you have the right to get it. If you want a raise, better benefits, whatever, it's within your right to go after it/them.

But, as the saying goes, your rights end where another's nose begins. Nobody should have the right to affect the life and livelihood of people jsut to get what they want. Striking is unethical and quite frankly should be illegal.

No one has the right to step on another person to get what they want. And whether you agree or not, insurance, better pay - they are all *wants*. Wants and needs are totally different.

When you strike and create a works stoppage, you are stopping work for people who NEED to work in order to have income and pay their bills, eat, and clothe themselves.

How anyone can, in good conscience, go on strike is beyond my ability to comprehend.

Going after what you want is not greed. Stepping on others to do it most certainly is.
 
E said:
I completely disagree for the same reasons that I am against unions in the first place.
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I was talking about the pros vs cons mentioned here.

But either way, I am not totally against unions. I'm not even sure about this, which is why I haven't voted.
 
E said:
I completely disagree for the same reasons that I am against unions in the first place.

People have the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. If you want something and it's not illegal, you have the right to get it. If you want a raise, better benefits, whatever, it's within your right to go after it/them.

But, as the saying goes, your rights end where another's nose begins. Nobody should have the right to affect the life and livelihood of people jsut to get what they want. Striking is unethical and quite frankly should be illegal.

No one has the right to step on another person to get what they want. And whether you agree or not, insurance, better pay - they are all *wants*. Wants and needs are totally different.

When you strike and create a works stoppage, you are stopping work for people who NEED to work in order to have income and pay their bills, eat, and clothe themselves.

How anyone can, in good conscience, go on strike is beyond my ability to comprehend.

Going after what you want is not greed. Stepping on others to do it most certainly is.
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Completely agreed. Striking is no more than strong-arming the populace to let you get more money that you can't seem to be able to bargain with and get it yourself.

Unions are generally corrupt as well. They demand union fees from you, you don't have a choice. A union shows up, YOU JOIN OR YOU GET FIRED. Simple as that. I'd be pissed if you don't give me that choice of joining the union or not. That's why I fought the union out of trying to get into our job. They are pointless and just want my money. They say they are fighting for your benefits, rarely dos a situation come up that can't be solved through negotiations. Rarely. If that does happen, you know what? YOu go an get a new job, not sit on your *** outside the store and yell at people all day who just want to get a dime. I've seen people beaten almost to death fro crossing picket lines just because they want to make sure there kid is clothed and has food.

While on paper unions seem like a good idea, in reality, they are nothing more than a form of extortion.
 
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I understand that strikes happen with unions and whatever, but the point is not about strikes, but about unions themselves.
 
Ice are you being serious? Unions are nothing more than extortion rings. I said that in my post. They are led by a few, who seem to think they know what the majority want. They make you join them, you don't have a choice. You get fired if you don't join them. If comic book writers join a union, I won't write, because then I would need to be part of this union as well, I won't have a choice.. It's a ludicrous system, outdated and in serious need to be taken out of society.

They are legal mafia rings.
 
Im surprised you would say health insurance is a want when with poorer families it is indeed a necessity that is extremely out of reach and not a whole lot of jobs give health insurance. if you go straight through an insurance company rather than through a company you work for (gov't or decent business), the rates are high as hell. AS a 21 year old on her own, I spend about 2,500 on insurance a year (I don't get that back) just so my insurance can cover me for about a crappy deductible any time I see a doctor. Health insurance is hard to come by and good health insurance is even harder and that goes for the majority of the country. If anyone wants any kind of decent insurance plan and unionizing and striking is the only way, then they have the right to do so freely. You can demand for a raise or insurance all you want on your own, but it's you against a whole company that hardly gives a damn about what you think because in their eyes, you are replaceable. When you unionize it puts those big companies in a bind to conform to the peoples' demands and gives hard working people what they rightfully deserve.

If anything, everyone has the right to a good health insurance and again, I don't see that as a want, luxury or anything like that. It isn't an A/C unit or an extra vehicle you don't actually need. It's a plan for you/family that helps you when you're in a bind and I'm sure anyone could appreciate that.
 
Hibiki said:
Im surprised you would say health insurance is a want when with poorer families it is indeed a necessity that is extremely out of reach and not a whole lot of jobs give health insurance. if you go straight through an insurance company rather than through a company you work for (gov't or decent business), the rates are high as hell. AS a 21 year old on her own, I spend about 2,500 on insurance a year (I don't get that back) just so my insurance can cover me for about a crappy deductible any time I see a doctor. Health insurance is hard to come by and good health insurance is even harder and that goes for the majority of the country. If anyone wants any kind of decent insurance plan and unionizing and striking is the only way, then they have the right to do so freely. You can demand for a raise or insurance all you want on your own, but it's you against a whole company that hardly gives a damn about what you think because in their eyes, you are replaceable. When you unionize it puts those big companies in a bind to conform to the peoples' demands and gives hard working people what they rightfully deserve.

If anything, everyone has the right to a good health insurance and again, I don't see that as a want, luxury or anything like that. It isn't an A/C unit or an extra vehicle you don't actually need. It's a plan for you/family that helps you when you're in a bind and I'm sure anyone could appreciate that.
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You beat me to it. It truly seems that the current gov't administration sees universal healthcare/insurance as almost a luxury. Something that only the wealthy deserve, I've on more than one occasion have considered not going into the comic industry because there is no protection for employees that the other graphics fields offer.

You're lucky, as of the 2006-2007 year, I spent $3100 in insurance premiums. Life sucks as you get older.
 
Hibiki said:
Im surprised you would say health insurance is a want when with poorer families it is indeed a necessity that is extremely out of reach and not a whole lot of jobs give health insurance. if you go straight through an insurance company rather than through a company you work for (gov't or decent business), the rates are high as hell. AS a 21 year old on her own, I spend about 2,500 on insurance a year (I don't get that back) just so my insurance can cover me for about a crappy deductible any time I see a doctor. Health insurance is hard to come by and good health insurance is even harder and that goes for the majority of the country. If anyone wants any kind of decent insurance plan and unionizing and striking is the only way, then they have the right to do so freely. You can demand for a raise or insurance all you want on your own, but it's you against a whole company that hardly gives a damn about what you think because in their eyes, you are replaceable. When you unionize it puts those big companies in a bind to conform to the peoples' demands and gives hard working people what they rightfully deserve.

If anything, everyone has the right to a good health insurance and again, I don't see that as a want, luxury or anything like that. It isn't an A/C unit or an extra vehicle you don't actually need. It's a plan for you/family that helps you when you're in a bind and I'm sure anyone could appreciate that.
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Vote for someone next year who wants to give out universal healthcare. Health insurance becomes much less important.

I really don't know where to side with this one.

I see both sides, and the major thing is that creators would get something for every time their character is used.

...

This could help creators and hurt comics.

Creators like Stan Lee, who've made a massive dent in comics, will make a killing in residuals for every book that used Spider-Man that month.

However, right now Bendis is using smaller and newer characters in Avengers, like the Hood, Sentry, and those. If Marvel had to dish out money for new unestablished characters to appear they would rather have older characters appear and thus, the very reason for new characters is gone so the company can save a buck.

Frankly, there are creator owned books out there and it's called "work for hire" for a reason. It's like any one of our jobs. We do it until we stop. Why should writing be any different?

Writers die poor.
We die poor.

More people die poor than rich.
 
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